On The Topic Of Gremlims And Sin Eaters....

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Okay I was wondering about the Sin Eaters. as they seem to vary between three demeanors.

1. Silent but deadly aether vampires
2. Trolls and jerks
3. ...and elitist egotists

The thing is 2 and 3 only apply to specific types of Sin Eaters, Gremlins and Valthrey respectably and the latter is kinda of a special case. This assumes, however that the Gremlins are indeed sin eaters. An assumption people, myself included had been running with since they appeared in the Shadowbringers trailer.


But they are some qualities besides being capable of (nasty) speech that sets them apart form Sin Eaters and makes me question their assumption:

1. Their presence in the Source and in the Overworld in the First. FFR Sin Eaters usually appear only in Dungeons and quests with one special exception, and that's an S rank mark. Gremlins OTOH are found in both Lakeland and the Twelveswood, a location that has not been affected by the Flood of Light at the time, as well as Gubaland Antitower, hinting at a population in the Hinterlands as well. And I think they are found elsewhere in the Source as well.
   • Counterpoint: One of those locations as Amdapor, which did seem to have contact with Sin Eaters as they seem to be the basis of the Kuribu (F. Hypocrisy) and Winged Lion (F. Cruelty) statue bosses, however the former also seems to be based on an eponymous entity that can be summoned in POTD. But the Lion still lends credence to the possibility of Sin Eaters being on the Source at the era of the WotM and by extension that Gremlins are sin eaters.
2. Their demeanor. Reminder, most of the sin eaters are silent energy vampires. And there are hints that they seem to be in some state of feralness or mindlessness as even the most humanoid of them short of Innocence himself, did not speak or show any sense of sapience acting only on instinct and the memories of their former selves. Gremlins by contrasts are not only clearly sentient, but are also more off-theme compared to the more angelic Sin Eaters showing a captivity to act more like bullies or jerks, even channeling this into the Misery debuff. Something that seems out of place considering the Sin Eaters tend to prefer killing their prey quickly
3. The lack of cases of metamorphosis. I might had missed something but I do know that victims of Sin Eaters become eaters themselves, hence the vampyric comparison, yet I never came across any cases of gremlin victims becoming sin eaters, gremlins or otherwise, which seems strange for what is supposing a species in a type of entity that is capable of forcing metamorphosis like that.

I know the point is likely been raised before, and will likely be raised again in the near future, but I still have to ask, what is the deal with Gremlins?

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