If You Enjoyed Jonathan Bailey in Wicked, Please Consider: This Catboy

Although helium had already gained a bully woody of renown playing Anthony Bridgerton in Bridgerton and for his steamy queer relation other Matt Bomer successful Fellow Travelers, Jonathan Bailey changeable up successful consciousness for a batch of radical this past play as Wicked whisked its mode into the container office, charming his mode into ours and Oz’s hearts arsenic the dashing Fiyero. But we person a proposal for the recently converted: what if helium had feline ears, a tail, and a elephantine magic staff?

Yes, Bailey’s concealed champion relation can’t beryllium recovered connected the metallic surface oregon connected TV—but alternatively successful the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV as possibly 1 of the video crippled franchise’s astir universally adored supporting characters afloat stop, G’raha Tia.

A red-haired subordinate of the game’s feline species, the Miqo’te, G’raha was introduced arsenic portion of a supporting endgame questline successful the basal mentation of XIV‘s reboot successful 2013, A Realm Reborn, an anxious researcher of a mysterious operation known arsenic the Crystal Tower, with links to its past past revealed arsenic players journeyed done a bid of raids acceptable wrong its floors. The quality wouldn’t beryllium voiced nevertheless until 2018, erstwhile G’raha was elevated to go a large fig successful the then-upcoming expansion, Shadowbringers. There, helium becomes a large quality successful the game’s superior narrative, requesting the assistance of the player’s Warrior of Light, and their allies to assistance different satellite successful XIV‘s multiverse from a cataclysmic threat, earlier joining those allies arsenic a regular supporting quality successful the pursuing expansions, 2021’s Endwalker and this year’s Dawntrail.

G’Raha is the benignant of quality astir laser-designed to beryllium glommed onto by Final Fantasy‘s fanbase. Deeply enamored with the subordinate character, his steadfast religion successful their abilities and his adventurous curiosities—on apical of his predominant expressed tendency to not conscionable spot the world, but spot it by your side—have made him 1 of the game’s astir fashionable characters, and the taxable of reams upon reams of fanfiction that are dedicated making adjacent the slightest inkling of romanticist subtext wrong the crippled arsenic textual arsenic imaginable (of immoderate 40,000 Final Fantasy XIV-related works connected Archive of Our Own, over 5,000 diagnostic G’raha among their affiliated tags).

But it’s much than conscionable G’raha being the player’s biggest fanboy that makes him charming, oregon the heady premix of eager-eyed person and world-weary mentor his wild Shadowbringers storyline takes him on, that makes him truthful popular. A batch of it is down to Bailey’s dependable work, instilling the quality with an earnest playfulness that successful 1 crook makes XIV‘s poetically Shakespearean dialog benignant consciousness creaseless and natural, and successful the adjacent charmingly grandiose. G’raha is some larger than life, an all-knowing magister who’s helped prevention the satellite times over, and besides your affably goofy champion person who’s apt to amusement arsenic overmuch joyousness biting into a burger the size of his caput arsenic helium is being whisked distant connected your adjacent adventure. Bailey plays that equilibrium with a resolute charm that isn’t conscionable casual to marque you anemic astatine the knees, if catboys are your thing, but reflects the benignant of bright-eyed, hopeful wanderlust that sits astatine the heart of Final Fantasy XIV‘s expansive narrative.

In a crippled astir light’s triumph implicit dark, astir everlasting religion successful the look of despair, there’s fewer characters who rather embody it similar G’raha does, and Bailey nails that successful each enactment you get to perceive him. And it’s thing helium gets astir G’raha’s appeal, too. Although the histrion has seldom spoken astir his show in XIV, earlier this twelvemonth helium opened up successful an interrogation with BAFTA astir however alert helium is that the quality has go beloved by its fanbase—and how, successful trying to not measurement backmost from the relation portion balancing his signifier and surface career, helium managed to inflame his lingua jumping betwixt signaling for Final Fantasy XIV and performing in Company. And is that benignant of dedication not charming successful and of itself?

Hopefully it’s thing Bailey volition support arsenic his Hollywood prima is acceptable to radiance adjacent brighter (beyond Wicked‘s sequel, he’s co-leading the adjacent Jurassic World movie with Scarlett Johansson adjacent year), and we’ll get to spell connected adventures with G’raha for galore years to come, wherever Final Fantasy XIV takes america next. But portion we bash hold to see Wicked Part Two, there’s ne'er been a amended infinitesimal to get your Bailey hole by hopping into FFXIV. I mean, you sat done a astir three-hour movie musical. What’s different fewer 100 hours of gaming connected apical of that?

Want much io9 news? Check retired erstwhile to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s adjacent for the DC Universe connected movie and TV, and everything you request to cognize astir the aboriginal of Doctor Who.