If You Loved Jonathan Bailey in Depraved, Please Contemplate: This Catboy

Though he had already gained a great deal of renown taking part in Anthony Bridgerton in Bridgerton and for his steamy queer position reverse Matt Bomer in Fellow Vacationers, Jonathan Bailey shot up in consciousness for lots of people this previous weekend as Wicked whisked its way into the box office, charming his means into ours and Oz’s hearts because the dashing Fiyero. However we’ve got a suggestion for the newly transformed: what if he had cat ears, a tail, and an enormous magic employees?

Sure, Bailey’s secret finest position can’t be discovered on the silver display or on TV—however as an alternative within the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV as maybe one of many online game franchise’s most universally adored supporting characters full cease, G’raha Tia.

A red-haired member of the sport’s feline species, the Miqo’te, G’raha was launched as a part of a supporting endgame questline within the base model of XIV‘s reboot in 2013, A Realm Reborn, an keen researcher of a mysterious construction referred to as the Crystal Tower, with hyperlinks to its historical historical past revealed as gamers journeyed by means of a collection of raids set inside its flooring. The character wouldn’t be voiced nevertheless till 2018, when G’raha was elevated to turn into a serious determine within the then-upcoming enlargement, Shadowbringers. There, he turns into a serious character within the sport’s main narrative, requesting assistance from the participant’s Warrior of Mild, and their allies to assist one other world in XIV‘s multiverse from a cataclysmic risk, earlier than becoming a member of these allies as a daily supporting character within the following expansions, 2021’s Endwalker and this yr’s Dawntrail.

G’Raha is the type of character virtually laser-designed to be glommed onto by Last Fantasy‘s fanbase. Deeply enamored with the participant character, his steadfast religion of their skills and his adventurous curiosities—on high of his frequent expressed need to not simply see the world, however see it by your facet—have made him one of many sport’s hottest characters, and the topic of reams upon reams of fanfiction which might be devoted making even the slightest inkling of romantic subtext throughout the sport as textual as doable (of some 40,000 Last Fantasy XIV-related works on Archive of Our Personal, over 5,000 feature G’raha amongst their affiliated tags).

Nevertheless it’s extra than simply G’raha being the participant’s largest fanboy that makes him charming, or the heady mixture of eager-eyed good friend and world-weary mentor his wild Shadowbringers storyline takes him on, that makes him so well-liked. A variety of it’s all the way down to Bailey’s voice work, instilling the character with an earnest playfulness that in a single flip makes XIV‘s poetically Shakespearean dialogue model really feel easy and pure, and within the subsequent charmingly grandiose. G’raha is each bigger than life, an all-knowing magister who’s helped save the world occasions over, and likewise your affably goofy finest good friend who’s prone to present as a lot pleasure biting right into a burger the scale of his head as he’s being whisked away in your subsequent journey. Bailey performs that steadiness with a resolute attraction that isn’t simply simple to make you weak on the knees, if catboys are your factor, however displays the type of bright-eyed, hopeful wanderlust that sits at the heart of Last Fantasy XIV‘s grand narrative.

In a sport about mild’s conquer darkish, about eternal religion within the face of despair, there’s few characters who fairly embody it like G’raha does, and Bailey nails that in each line you get to listen to him. And it’s one thing he will get about G’raha’s enchantment, too. Though the actor has not often spoken about his efficiency in XIV, earlier this yr he opened up in an interview with BAFTA about how conscious he’s that the character has turn into beloved by its fanbase—and the way, in attempting to not step again from the position whereas balancing his stage and display profession, he managed to inflame his tongue leaping between recording for Last Fantasy XIV and performing in Firm. And is that type of dedication not charming in and of itself?

Hopefully it’s one thing Bailey will preserve as his Hollywood star is about to shine even brighter (past Depraved‘s sequel, he’s co-leading the following Jurassic World film with Scarlett Johansson subsequent yr), and we’ll get to go on adventures with G’raha for a few years to come back, wherever Last Fantasy XIV takes us subsequent. However whereas we do wait to see Depraved Half Two, there’s by no means been a greater second to get your Bailey repair by hopping into FFXIV. I imply, you sat by means of a virtually three-hour film musical. What’s one other few hundred hours of gaming on high of that?

Need extra io9 information? Try when to anticipate the newest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on film and TV, and all the things it’s essential to learn about the way forward for Doctor Who.