Quote (dos350 @ 21 Nov 2018 12:52)
very cool! shoutouts to guados #guado
Guados are more interesting and complex than I had remembered. I really spent a lot of time talking multiple times to pretty much every NPC in the game this time, and I enjoyed learning more about Spira, its citizens, and the Guado.
Guados seem to be divided into 3 main groups:
1. The open-minded progressive Guados that want to integrate their race into Spiran society. They see Guado and humans as equals... only separated by minor racial and cultural differences, that should be no obstacle to build a positive relationship among both groups. They believe that everyone is stronger together, and that any kind of discrimination or supremacist/segregationist ideas should be stopped. Unfortunately, only a minority of Guado seem to belong to this group, with the late Lord Jyscal being the most prominent example, but there are also some other Guado, especially among the younger generations, that advocate for this.
2. The Guado that only want fraternity with humans up to some degree, and only out of convenience. They hold bigoted views, seeing themselves as superior to the rest. They are racialists, nationalists and protectionists. The majority of Guado people fall into this category... it's especially notable among the middle-aged and elderly NPCs you can talk to in Guadosalam. Despite them claiming to support Jyscal and Seymour's fraternity policies, they love to remind you about how great the Guado are, and about how distinct their culture is. Trommel, with his "the Guado take care of Guado affairs" despite revering Jyscal is probably the most obvious example of this.
3. The true bigots that openly despise humans. You can find several of them in Guadosalam. Some will refuse to speak to you normally (they'll do so in the "old tongue" of the Guado), others will outright insult you and say things like "humans look disgusting", or rant about how the Guado are far superior to other races and that Seymour shouldn't waste his time on them. Fortunately there aren't as many of these, but to me it seems like that's only because it is Guado tradition to worship their leaders with unquestionable loyalty, making it difficult for Guado like these to express their contempt for humans (considering the fraternity and cooperative approach of their two last leaders). So the majority just end up being in the second group.
It would be interesting to see the development of Spira over the following generations. Perhaps continued cooperation and a more positive education among the Guado will result in them becoming a more open-minded society. But looking at FFX's portrayal of the Guado, there is a lot of work to do.